New volunteer strategy now in place at Edinburgh Leisure.
Edinburgh Leisure has launched a new Volunteer Strategy for 2024-2027.
Volunteers are the heart of Edinburgh Leisure’s Active Communities programme. Their 187 volunteers make a huge impact, making it possible to deliver over 160 health and wellbeing classes each week, supporting more than 12,500 people to be active and well.
In 2023-24 there was a 14% increase in referrals to the Edinburgh Leisure Active Communities projects. This was more than the previous year and a 41% increase on pre-pandemic levels, demonstrating the growing need and demand for their services. Next year the charity needs to raise almost £1million in external funding to enable them to continue to deliver the current level of support and also grow their programme to support increasing demand
Stephen Hughes, Volunteer Development Manager at Edinburgh Leisure said: “The new strategy outlines our commitment to growing our volunteer programme over the next three years, with a focus on enhancing the volunteer experience, expanding opportunities to make volunteering accessible to all, and strengthening our ties within the Edinburgh Community.”
At Edinburgh Leisure, no matter what role is chosen by a volunteer, training and support is provided.
In June 2018, Edinburgh Leisure’s Ageing Well programme, which promotes healthy lifestyles for older adults, earned the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service (QAVS)—the equivalent to an ‘MBE’ for volunteering. Without their volunteers, many of their initiatives simply wouldn’t exist.
In September 2024, the Rt Hon Lord Provost and Lord Lieutenant of the City of Edinburgh, Robert Aldridge, accompanied by former Conservative councillor, Elaine Aitken, DL, visited the team to see how they had used the award. The duo also learned about its benefits for the volunteers and the organisation, and discussed their future plans.
The new Volunteer Strategy follows hot on the heels of the launch in September 2024 of Edinburgh Leisure’s first Impact Report since 2015.
If you have time on your hands and would be interested in volunteering with Edinburgh Leisure, you can find out more by clicking here or contact: Stephen Hughes, Volunteer Development Manager at Edinburgh Leisure –stephenhughes@edinburghleisure.co.uk
Download the new Volunteer Strategy
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
